Thirty-five years after it was first reported that Fred “Crazy” Schmit (often misspelled Schmidt) kept a “book” on hitters, the practice was still considered odd.
Crazy Schmit
News of Schmit’s “book,” kept largely it was said because of his poor memory, first appeared in 1894 in The Sporting Life:
“(A)n account of the weakness at bat of his opponents, setting them down in a small book, which he always carried with him on the diamond.”
An International News Service article in 1919 said Cleveland Indians pitcher Jim Bagby:
Jim Bagby
“Is another Crazy Schmidt.”
According to the article:
“Every pitcher in the big show has first-hand information regarding the hitting ability of every player, but few, if any, have as near perfect a record on the batters as Jim Bagby, one of Lee Fohl’s pitching aces. Bagby has a system of baseball bookkeeping that is unique and he has found it valuable in his career as a pitcher.
“Some years ago when Jim was setting the Southern League on fire he fell upon the idea of keeping tab on individual batters and also the different teams as a whole. He did this with aid of a memorandum.
“After each game Bagby would record the success or failure of this or that batter, adding such notes regarding the batter’s style as he deemed useful for future reference and guidance. Jim was so successful that season (1914, Bagby was 20-9 with a 2.20 ERA for the New Orleans Pelicans) that he has continued the practice.”
When asked whether he still “kept book,” Bagby:
“(A)nswered in the affirmative. The same system that worked so well in the Southern League has been just as effective in the American.”
Bagby was 17-11 with a 2.80 ERA; the following season he was 31-12 with a 2.89 ERA—he finished his career with a 127-89 record and 3.11 ERA.
Crazy Schmitt was 7-36 with a 5.45 ERA in parts of five seasons in the major leagues.
Baseball History Daily 